Try thestar.com

Thanks. I found it in my own mail, of all places. It was from a Jewish friend in Montreal who has been active in the peace movement for years -and severely attacked by Canadian Jewish Congress for it. I had the name of the organization wrong, and I don't know a great deal about it, except that Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East is secular. I also know it has Jewish members, but I don't know the proportions.

The point is that Harper has used visa delay to effectively censor what we're allowed to hear. We are allowinig rights to go down the tube without even noticing it.

 Mr. Harper should be very afraid should Graeme ever situate himself upon a grassy knoll.  

http://www.ufoconspiracy.com/reports/kennedy_assassins_.htm

This is similar to what happened to George Galloway, MP from the UK last year sometime, if you recall. It also happened when former US colonel, Ann Wright, tried to enter Canada. She was outspoken in her opposition to the Iraq war and later resigned from the US Army because of it. Since then (everything below comes from Wikipedia, emphasis in bold is mine):

Wright took part in a September 15, 2007 protest march and die-in on the steps of the United States Capitol Building, organized by the ANSWER Coalition and Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). She was arrested for stepping over the wall after several IVAW and Veterans for Peace members were arrested.^{[citation needed]}

Here is a link to YouTube video of those arrests that clearly show Ann Wright being arrested by Capitol Police:

On October 3, 2007, Wright and Code Pink activist Medea Benjamin were denied entry to Canada because their names appear on an FBIwatchlist due to arrests related to their anti-war activism.^[3]

In December 2008, Wright has recently expressed her dissatisfaction with the current U.S foreign policy toward Palestine ^[4].

In 2009 Wright began work as a leading member of the steering committee for the Gaza Freedom March.^[5]

We're into an age of hysteria and war. By 2020, we will have fought more an bloodier wars than in the whole of the twentieth century.

I missed your quest for the article.  It was in the Star, but I'm glad you found it.  I read it out loud to my sweetheart.  His question of course :"what don't we know about this guy that would delay his visa?  might be another side to the story"  - I thanked him nicely for raining on my parade.

That is an important consideration, Birthstone, but there is enough of a pattern going on for me to be suspicious. Consider George Galloway being denied entry into Canada - he may have his legitimate detractors but, regardless, he is a sitting Member of Parliament in the UK and he was allowed entry into the US. He organized aid to Palestinians, which is a no-no with this government as we have seen with the cuts to KAIROS through CIDA. Hence, he was denied entry into Canada on the grounds that he could be considered a threat to national security.

Canada, as a defender of democracy is not credible when things like this happen. People may not like former US Army colonel, Ann Wright, for her position on the Iraq war (which is not a legal war) but our image is carefully constructed to appear to be a model of democracy and one that protects freedom of association. Yet, as soon as the message contradicts the Conservative government ideology, one's chances of being granted entry are significantly lowered.

Yet, Ann Coulter, who spews poison, misinformaton and ignorance, is being permitted to come into Canada. Also, did you know that Immigration does not have the same restrictions around protecting an applicant's privacy and can, if they choose, release informationto the public that is  relevant in some situations.

well, apparently the fellow kept out of Canada was a Nobel prize winning nominee.  I think that speaks for itself mostly - he'd have to have some serious skeletons in his closet to counterbalance that enough to get turfed.  Similar to Galloway, he has enough credentials to open the doors wide.  Coulter- not so much.

Aside to graeme ...  I did see someone (maybe even Birthstone!) on facebook recently refer to Harper as "Shrub" - i.e. little bush ... made me chuckle.

I did see that story in the Star too.  Indeed ... attempts at mind control can't be far off ...  maybe I will have to send some support to www.unseatharper.com  - they're planning to publish their ad in Calgary!!  Possibly that was even this past weekend... balls.

shrub is good. And it's a losing game. The British are realizing that now as they investigate Blair, and realize what a price they paid to win US respect, and the zero return they got from it.

Hi carolla:

I just checked out your link and it doesn't work. But, I tried www.unseatharper.ca and that took me to the website you describe.

 I just keep voting against him and hope the rest of Canada will wake up and do the same.  Though the plethora of magnetic ribbons on pick up trucks makes me wonder whether the hillbillies have taken over for good .

You mean the largest group must represent intelligence, urbanity and informed?

So both the Trudeau Liberals and the Mulroney conservatives represented those qualities in those who voted for them? Must be that we got a lot in intelligent, urbane and informed new citizens in a very short time.

 An example of this is happening in Ottawa, where the iman of Ottawa's main mosque is being deported.

From the front page of todays Ottawa Citizen.

Well, Beshpin, you're as straw-manny as they come.

well ANYWAY

Very interesting to see the 3-tiered rebuke of Canada's recent policy choices by Clinton - so much for Harper kissing American butt.  It really shows how Shrub ( - by the way, that was my sweetie's word for him and it stuck, but perhaps we got it from somewhere else), that is, Harper jumped on the Bush-ideological bandwagon and hasn't gotten off.  Or perhaps Harper redefined it for himself - he is a more capable frontman than Bush was, so his confidence is an added problem right now.

He may see, as I do, the precarious state of the American Empire at the moment, and be trying to stand tall as the new leader of the free world.  Trouble is, as he falters with news-making foreign policy missteps over the Rights & Democracy Board, the Arctic Council, his Maternal Health foreign policy, blocking Nobel Prize Nominees in a free-speech disaster, and the issue of Afghanistan (not necessarily a misstep, but certainly not in line with the US) - he is dangerously close to drawing a line in the sand. 

If Obama & Clinton continue on their uphill that started with the health bill last week, and continue to nail issue by issue the way they are going, AND they continue to look like a strong, united, inspiring team (moderate as they may be), they will show the world clearly just how far Shrub actually is from being Leader of the Free World.  And when America makes Canada look bad:  arrogant, elitist, conservative, anti-women, anti-native rights, and not a team-player - that is really embarrassing. 

So bring it on - maybe what this country needs is a wake-up call to the direction Harper wants to go.  Maybe we need to hear the rest of the world scoffing at us, and get red-faced enough to turf Harper once & for all.

Alex

Beshpin - if people & creatures weren't already suffering the effects of our mistreatment of the planet, I'd likely say 'whatever'.  Instead I'll say:  the environment is just one issue that we've taken a beating on from other countries recently.  I'm not talking about flaky folks strumming guitars making up conspiracy theories, I mean other world powers. 

the only thing to be happy about if you actually like Harper is that Harper is smugly trucking along ignoring the rest of us, and the opposition is faltering.  I can see how you would have a sense of mightiness right now.  But if you know much about any of these other issues, you'll hear the voices of scientists, professors, scholars, business leaders, church leaders, social services leaders, parents and others hollering at him to stop.  Not to mention the rest of the world:  Hilary Clinton, all the groups at Copenhagen, Desmond Tutu & other groups served by Kairos, foreign policy folks who connect with the Rights & Democracy board and the nations that came together for the Arctic Circle...  not just some brainless belllybutton gazers.

Oh, Beshpin, how could you possibly believe either side in any case? You're a troll. Remember?

There is something to be said for who's voice one is listening too.  If it is the wealthy who got rich on the backs of the vulnerable, or the powerful who direct the message to suit them, or the 'bought' - 'experts' paid to say the right thing, we need to turn them down and hear the silenced ones.

Wealth at somone's expense is not God's plan, nor it is the compassionate or peaceful way to go.  Until the poor are supported, the war-torn are protected, the sick healed and the mentally ill cared for, capitalism is not enough.